"It's time to prove to your friends that you're worth a damn. Sometimes that means dying, sometimes it means killing a whole lot of people." -- Dwight CASS' CLIP (WARNING: **spoilers below**) When I sat down to write this review, I didn't want to divulge too much of the plot because I wanted movie-goers to have the pleasure of watching this movie unfold right before their eyes. However, something weird kinda happpened during the writing process. The phrase -- "located somewhere between purgatory and hell" -- was the first thing to pop into my head. Then all of a sudden, I actually found myself literally inside the movie, like a character. Okay, I told you this was weird. As a result, what unfolds is my character's actual thoughts/review of Sin City. I expected the flight there to be shorter. But, there was no flash of white light transporting me up to eternal bliss to meet The Maker. Instead, it was more like a fading flashlight running low on battery juice. Where I ended up was in a bar in Sin City, located somewhere between purgatory and hell. I found myself sitting at a bar and ordering what's on tap. I rubbed my eyes and started praying that this was a nightmare. NOPE, it wasn’t. "Go to plan B," I tell myself. I get comfortable at the bar, then take a swig of reality. Just above the bar is a 19" black and white television, and what's playing on the tube is certainly not a Lifetime Movie. The guy narrating the goings-on sounds a little like Mickey Spillane and some bloody and pretty brutal things are happening. He's actually telling three stories where the populaces of this city of indulgence are seedy misfits and innocent bystanders. One story is of an ex-con, Marv (Mickey Rourke), who is being framed for murdering a prostitute, Goldie (Jaime King). Marv's search for Goldie's real killer will take him beyond the dirty streets of Sin City. The second story centers on a barmaid, Shellie (Brittany Murphy), and her new boyfriend, Dwight (Clive Owen). Problem is, Shellie's ex-boyfriend and corrupt cop, Jack Rafferty (Benicio Del Toro), is none to happy to learn about their relationship. The confrontation between Dwight and Jack ends up in the Red Light district of Old Town, which is governed by prostitutes and led by Gail (Rosario Dawson). The third story is about a retiring cop, John Hartigan (Bruce Willis), who is hell-bent on saving an 11-year-old girl, Nancy Callahan (Makenzie Vega and Jessica Alba), from a pedophile, Yellow Bastard (Nick Stahl). The moral lines of the good guys are somewhat blurred because the good guys do some bad things in order to take down the scum of the earth bad guys. Marv describes where I am best. "Walk down the right back alley in Sin City, and you can find anything." I did, because New Orleans could easily be called Sin City instead of The Big Easy. I wonder what The Maker was trying to tell me. I hope my prayers for redemption aren't too late. DA 411 Sin City will be an instant movie classic. Why? Because writer/director, Robert Rodriguez, basically uploads three of writer/illustrator, and now first-time director, Frank Miller's stories, The Hard Goodbye, The Big Fat Kill and That Yellow Bastard, straight from the his graphic novels to the big screen. Also adding his Pulp Fiction-like spend is guest director, Quentin Tarantino. As comic book adaptations go, Sin City is visually stunning to watch because of the black and white illustrations. Hints of red, yellow, blue and shades of gray also make up the color pallet. Also impressive is the acting ensemble. They perfectly weave these three overlapping stories of a child-molesting kidnapper, a fiendish priest, crooked politicians, corrupt cops, cold-blooded cannibals, and ruthless prostitutes, together. The characters are so believable that you'll almost forget you're watching actors act. Sin City also has some of the best memorable flawed heroes. Sure, Mickey Rourke is an ex-con, but he's an ex-con with a purpose. [Okay, I'm going out on a limb now and saying that Mickey Rourke's performance was definitely Oscar-worthy]. It was certainly enjoyable to see Bruce Willis not overact and simply embody his character. Each actor delivered his or her Mickey Spillane-ish dialogue effortlessly. In fact, Mickey Rourke had some of the best lines: "Somebody paid good money for this frame up." -- Marv (Mickey Rourke) "I found your killer but he was better than me." -- Marv (Mickey Rourke) "Hell is waking up everyday and not knowing why I'm here." -- Marv (Mickey Rourke) "I've been killing my way to the truth." -- Marv (Mickey Rourke) "You can't kill a man without knowing for sure." -- Marv (Mickey Rourke) "Power comes from lying." -- Sen. Roark (Powers Boothe) "Old man dies, little girl lives, fair trade." -- John Hartigan (Bruce Willis) Some of the funniest scenes in the movie are with Clive Owens and Benicio Del Toro. You'll have to see Sin City to see what I mean. Other recognizable faces piecing the stories together include Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Carla Gugino, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rutger Hauer, Powers Boothe, Michael Madsen, Alexis Bledel, and Devon Aoki. If you're not into ultraviolent movies, then don't see Sin City. There's so much blood that it almost squirts off the screen and onto movie-goers. I did have a problem, however, with the portrayal of women. It's still disturbing to see that the male fantasy continues to consist of exotic dancers, prostitutes, and a twist of violence against women. How sad! I've seen lots of movies where the hype turns out to be a major disappointment -- e.g., I Heart Huckabees and Life Aquatics with Steve Zissou. So, I really wasn't looking forward to seeing Sin City until my son and nephew, both comic book geeks, said they wanted to see it. Well, you can count me in on the Sin City hype bandwagon because I absolutely LOVED Sin City!!! CASS' CONCLUSION It would truly be a sin if Sin City doesn't make everyone's top 10 best movie picks the year!!! Sin City back to top Copyright Cassandra Henry, 2005 EMAIL: cass@3blackchicks.com

More 3BlackChicks™ review(s) for this week: (movies reviewed through 04-15-05):

Cass' reviews:
Sin City